Great news this week on the project! Salt Lake called
President Packard back - they're of course really busy with the Rome
Visitors Center and a few other new ones that are top priority but
really want to help. They said they've really wanted to do what we're
talking about but just don't have the man power at the moment.
President's like well you give us a few things and we'll be your man
power and then you can take what you want and change it and make it
better if you dont like it. So supposedly they're supposed to
send us almost any video content and such we want from visitor centers.
As always, we have to keep moving forward assuming we're not getting
anything which is annoying.
Other great news is, guess who got the lead designer who works for
Covenant on their team? Woot woot - 2 points for the sistahs. Of course
we did.
It's a hard balance working on this project - we want
it out there as soon as possible but at the same time we want to make
sure we get it right. Yesterday in church this guy gave THE most amazing
talk and we thought "he'd be so perfect for one of the videos." Do we
get a videographer to do a few videos? That would take longer but it
would help bless the lives of those that are working on the
project....Do we just use the content the church has already published
so we can get it out faster? See how screwed my mind is now? Im starting
to have psycho missionary dreams.
Want to hear a few other miracles? You may want to
go grab a plate of cookies and glass of milk to get you through the rest
of this letter.
1. We are grocery shopping and
walking down one of the aisles this guy keeps looking over. He just
looked like he wanted to talk, it was almost too weird. We said, "Hello"
and just as we're about to cross paths he turns to s. wagner and tells
her that she looks like a friend who passed away almost 30 years ago.
Welp, thats a statement to stop us dead in our tracks. He pulls out a
picture of her and good ol S. Wagner testifies on the spot and tells him
that we have a message that is evidence of the truth that he will see
her again. We pulled out a card but i realized all the cards I had was
Belmont's phone and email on it. But I was like eh what are the chances
he's gonna call anyway. He laughed and said he'd think about it. We
grab his name and talk about how cool it was but nothing more. Belmont
texted us and asked us if we knew I guy named Ernie? That some guy
emailed thanking for the conversation and left his phone number. I was
thinking of when i was in belmont and i thought "no, i dont remember
anyone we met but we had lots of random conversations i dont know" I
didnt think about anymore then yesterday in sacrament meeting it was the
most random thing ever. Not even thinking about anything and then all
the sudden 2 words pop into my head. Ernie - grocery store. Ok thats 3
but you get the point. I turn over to sister wagner "Ernie is the guy at
the grocery store!!" I've never had a thought like that so simply and
so fast. Right then we texted Belmont to have them forward us the
email.
2. The second is when the guy gave his talk - Bro.
Farmer. He shared a recent experience - he just finished his physicians
assistant schooling. He said he was so busy that it pulled him away from
church. He had just moved into the area and started getting emails and
phone calls from the bishop. He's like "eh, i can dodge this for a
little while longer." He then was working at a military base and in the
clinic was stuck inside for one of their practice lock downs. He ended
up having a conversation for over 1 1/2 hours with this patient who was
of course a member of the bishopric in another ward. despite this, he
still was reluctant to go back to church. While this is all happening
his brother in NYC was moving and needed help. He said, "I just sent him
$3500 and called it good because thats all i could really give, not
that it can get you that far in NYC anyway..." He then begins to cry.
"That was the last contact I had with my brother". He said he got a call
from his sisters of his missing brother and he's like "just file a
missing persons report, he'll come up - its fine. i felt kinda bad about
how i responded but at the time it was just easier to shrug off"
He decides to drive to NY to check on his brother..on the way there
he gets a phone call saying the report came up...instead of going to
the apartment, he now had to go to the police station to identify his
brothers body. He now drives to Louisiana to take the ashes to his
family. On the way there he gets a phone call from his home teacher and
says "the bishop really felt like we needed to call you." now he's
thinking "do i tell them what just happened? i dont even know them." He
decided to tell them and the bishop called immediately. He said,
"Brother Farmer, do you need a blessing? Turn around, come to my home."
Long story short, since this past fall, now he's come back to church and
realized what he was missing from skewing his priorities. Hes realized
that trials are for our good and necessary for us to return to our
father in heaven.
At the end of the talk, before i could even think about what i was
going to say i turn to s. wagner "He should be the video for the 'do
challenges bring us closer to god' button." Turns out his wife who was
came to hear him speak is less-active and his parents visiting aren't
members. "If he was in the video, think about what it could do to their
family!"
3. Last example i'll share is the silver bullet of
the chocolate chip cookies principle. We decided to take a new route to
the office and this lady on the new street we walk on stops her car! She
introduces herself and says she doesnt really go to church that much
anymore. She asks what ward we're in. We say that we work in the office
and attend the 1st ward (not the ward she lives in). Shes like "well i
live in house 11 and you can stop by anytime if you ever need anything!"
Yesterday i thought, "Bring cookies to janette." (the woman we met).
Not sure if it was inspiration or the fact that chocolate chip cookies
sounded pretty good on a sunday night. :) Sister Wagner who served in
the ward she lives in said she was impossible to get ahold of and
everyone said that missionaries wouldnt be a good outreach right now. We
drop by, and they let us in. turns out her husbands not a member of the
church. We talked for quite a while - shes a return missionary. She
asked how our day was, and what we did. Perfect lead in, today we went
to church. We shared brother farmer's story. She was pretty open about
why shes stopped coming to church and just had the best gospel
conversation with her. I thought "this woman has forgotten the doctrine
of the gospel! if only she heard the missionary lessons again from a new
perspective!" We invited her to do so. And she said she wouldnt be
actively opposed but she's not quite ready. We bore our testimonies and i
said, "Youre right, you have to be ready. Because it's a lot of work to
seek answers to questions. It requires going on a bit of a spiritual
diet. When you want answers bad enough to spend the time to seek what
truth is, you know where you can go." The spirit was so strong. It ended
really well and we left our phone number and said if she needed a cup
of sugar or just someone to talk to, the office sisters are always
looking for real human contact. she laughed and said "i actually might
take you up on that."
1st lesson in 3 weeks. I feel more like a member missionary
referrin all my friends at the grocery store and my neighbors who i give
cookies to on a sunday night to the missionaries. And im like wait IM
the missionary...tables are a little turned these days.
It was a blessing to feel the spirit so readily. I
feel like it hasnt been as noticeable lately even though its always
there. I felt the blessings not only of a full time missionary but a
member missionary. i get the best of both worlds.
Also, Sister Crane is my STL these days and we get to go on
exchanges this week which means i get to be her compy for the day again.
so excited. WOO gonna be a good week.
Love ya'll - spirits there
Sister Bell
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